Composite trim panels of fiberglass, foam or other materials are used in the manufacture of automobiles to enhance the aesthetics of the interior of the car. Such trim products are headliners, door panels and the like. In addition to decoratively covering the interior sheet metal, these components reduce the noise levels inside the automobile cab by acting as noise absorbers. The objective of manufacturers of these products has been and still is to produce a product which is simple, inexpensive and safe to manufacture, but which is lightweight and self-supporting.
In the past, these components have been manufactured from resin bonded fiberglass or foam materials. These compositions would be used as the core of the article upon which reinforcing materials and decorative layers would be bonded to produce the unitary composite structure. However, the processes used for the manufacture of these products does not result in a product having the required actual dimensions required to meet the automotive manufacturers specification (net shape). This means that post formation cutting is required This is not a problem where fiberglass is not a principal constituent. However, when fiberglass is a primary material, the exposed edges of the article after being cut to the net shape result in exposed fiberglass material. This presents handling and environmental problems for the manufacturers as well as the ultimate user of the product.
Therefore, what is needed in this art is a composite article which meets all of the industries needs regarding the physical properties of the resulting composite article but which uses fiberglass material in such a way that the method of manufacture results in a composite article having no exposed fiberglass.